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How do I get rid of house sparrows that live in my coop? Last spring, I put netting on the underside of the rafters, so they no longer had a place to nest, which helped for a short while. Now, every morning when I go and feed the girls, there are 5 or 6 flying around the coop, dive bombing me...

I use the deep litter method in my coop. It only gets cleaned out a few times a year, but never smells. If I had to build my coop again (it's 8' by 10' with 7' high walls for about 18 chickens), I would put the man door into the coop about 4 1/2" above the floor. After a while, the shavings...

I used to open and close the door every night. After loosing to many chickens the last few years to hawks while in the run, the run is now predator proof. As a result, I only close the door to the run on days when I need to lock the girls into the coop. I usually leave the door open all...

I have my lower nesting boxes about 14" off the floor. Just high enough so I can get a bag/bale of wood shavings under it. My girls generally use the upper boxes. It is critical that the nesting box be in the darkest corner of the coop. I have mine on the east wall of the coop, since the sun...

Last year I lost over half my flock to predators. Worst night was when a raccoon climbed over the fence and killed 2 of my girls. In the morning, the rest of the flock was feeding on them. I know, gross. So far this year I have not lost any girls. Anyway, a friend of mine is trapping fox on my...

I fill out Form F (Farm income) when doing my taxes. I report the few hundred a get in egg sales, and then deduct the cost of feed, chicks, the coop and other supplies. I grow about 1/3 of the feed, so I also deduct the tractor and garden fertilizer. Last year my farm operations lowered my tax...

One of my Leghorn that is 22 months old just started molting for the 1st time. I hope the cold does not get to her. Dear wife's boss thinks it is caused by some type of bacterial infection, feeling its too late in winter for chickens to molt.

I added 16 RIRs this year to my flock of leghorns. About 2 weeks ago, shortly after the new girls were added to the coup, 3 or 4 of my RIRs attacked the runt of the litter, causing her to bleed and loosing feathers on the top and back of her head. I took her away from the rest, and put her in...

My Leghorn chickens have been laying eggs for about 10 to 12 weeks now, and today was the 1st time we got an egg without a shell. The girls are very good, and give me about 6 eggs a week each. Based on what I read, I plan on eating the shelless egg tomorrow for breakfast. My girls are fed...

I ended up getting seeds from Sustainable Seed Company (www.SustainableSeedCo.com). They have a group of seeds (http://sustainableseedco.com/Poultry-Package.html) for growing your own chicken feed. I'm also growing sunflower seeds for my girls. I plan on just mixing everything together and...